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Governors of Ak-Sar-Ben on the Future of the Organization
Till' OMAHA Si 'X DAY HKE: SKPTHMBKK 1P(i!.
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lii 'iiMw.witm-jwiat EN may come and
yon cannot take away the affection in
the lirart of every Omahan, for Ak-Far-Bcn
the Mighty, for he is mighty
and has done minhty thlnss for
Omaha," said Mr. Hcaton. "I do not
know Just whnt will be the future of
t ho Klnn; of Quivera, hut it will lu
grand and glorious and no mistake.
Probahly next year e will have some-
brins thoupands of people to Omaha."
Mr. liintz favors some kind of a
pioneer day celebration to go along
with the soldiers' maneuvers, in this
agreeing with others of the board of
governors. None of the board meni-
It. "Hut FuftU'o It to say that Ak-Sar-lien
bus a future and a bright one, I
think. The king has not reached the
end of his rope by a good deal, and 1
see no reason why we should not relsn
n8 long as EnglnnJ'B Queeu Victoria,
hers have given much thought, seem- and she reigned pretty long."
ingly, to the Ak-Sar-Hen of 1911 and
future years all are concerned with
celebration of some sort, and this
Ak-Sar-Ben is the bust kind of a cel
ebration I ever heard of. It is orig
inal and unique and people from the
east who have visited ttio Den or
seen our parades have been more
than enthusiastic over Ak-Sar-Beu.
We are getting better every year,
the Initiation this year eclipsed any
thing wo have ever had bofore and
the parade to be given at the com
ing carnival will excel anything
provements would be made or what
changes effected, thouph lie said
that It Is a foregone conclusion that
the king's future is bright.
"We have no highway, or will
have none, and that Is the principal
trouble," said Mr. Courtney, "but
the highway and the carnival is not
all, and the reign of Ak-Sar-Ben and
Pamson will go on Just the same.
The king has captured the city and
he Is not going to abdicate yet a
while. The new John I,. Kennedy
building at NIneteorh and Douglas
tstreets will prohibit the use of the
present highway after the present
year. We cannot close Douglas
street and thereby keep peoplo away
from thi.-s new buiHIng. The new
Bianilels theater building has taken
half of the block of ground on
which stands the city hall and the Bee
building, and this is another spike in
the old carnival grounds. There is no
use In talking about going out to the
Vinton street park or some other loca
tion away from the business center for
a carnival, as we cannot get the crowds
out there. But 'sufficient to the day
is the evil thereof,' and we will meet
future difficulties as we nave met them
in the past with a smile that always
,thlng of a frontier celebration, coupled the Ak-Sar-Ben of 1009 and a few pre
with the maneuvers of the troops, but
nothing has as yet been definitely de
termined upon. We are concerned
about the present, not the future, Just
now
"But no man can tell me that Ak-Jur-Ben
Is at an end and that his glor
ious te'gn rhnuhl cease and the king
abdicate In favor of some one or some
thing else. They tried to tell v.s that
we had reached the limit in initiations,
that, everything had been thought of
and that nothing new could be put on.
But look at this year. We have had
the best, most original and most tak
ing initiation of any, and while the
Klks, Masons and other secret societies
could not get enough members to
gether to hold a lodge meeting, the
king's Den has been packed every
Monday right, no matter how hot the
weather might be,
"Ak-Sar-Ben Is here to stay and
more glorious things await him In tho
future than he ever dreamed of, I be
lieve." Educational features are to be put
to the fore In the fature, according to
0. H. Pickens. Samson is not neces
sarily to become a pedagogue end his
knights all school ma'ams, but all the
same Ak-Sar-Ben will attempt to put
on programs which will be of an in
structive nature. This first one will
ltminary plans for IP 10, for they can
not wait until 1 0 1 o to prepare the
progrr.m for that year.
With the large den and the entire
Motk of ground on which it stands
paid for and clear of debt, .Joseph
Barker, the governor in charge of die
annual Ak-Sar-Ben ball, does not
worry so much about the losti of the
highway as some of the other gover
nors. "We are going to have the finest
balls this year, and if the balls on suc
cessive years are better than on pre
ceding years, why would it not stand
to reason that in the future thy will
be still better? The children's ball
this year will be the prettiest thing
ycu ever saw and the Japanese
party will bo a dream.
Arthur C. Smith said the governors
and the knights weve too much con
cerned about the present to think
much about the future, but that there
Is a future there is no doubt In his
mind.
"The carnival, or the possible lack
of it, may hamper us some in other
years, but I t-hlnk we will be able to
find some suitable location for a high
way near I lie business center. I know
some people oojtct io me carnival an
wouW like to see it done away wi.li,
but my answer to these people is not
to go to the carnival if they do not
want to. No one has to visit the carni
val unless he likes, atu I have noticed
that the great majority like to.
"If any one can point out where we
can get the $20,0(10 or $30,000 which
we get every year in gale receipts at
tea the carnival we will do away with it,
but until some other plan offers I
"But about the future, the prospects think
for another year. Fine, I say. It is 'n-
practically certain that we will get the "Next year we will have thei army
maneuvers of the government troops maneuvers and that with a few 'stunts'
and that la worth going miles to see,
and we will of course have other at
tractions. The knights of Ak-Sar-Ben
were never known to fall down on any
thing yet and we do not intend to in
the future."
Mr. Barker agrees with most of the
governors that the carnivals must he
kept up in some form, not so much ou
account of the imperative neces
sity of getting revenue for the
from the Cheyenne frontier day will
give the people a pretty good entertain
ment." "Two years la too far ahead to
think about. We governors may u'.l be
dead before then, but King Ak-Sar-Ben
will live forever, at least he ought
to in consideration of the great good
be has don Omaha."
be next year.
"I believe that the maneuvers of the king for the purpose of defraying
government troops will be the best the expenses of the parades, as to
kind of an educational feature," said furnish cheap amusements to the
Mr. Pickens. "More soldiers will be thousands who have always packed
brought together here in Omaha, prob- the carnival grounds and come
ably, than at any other western city In away thoroughly satisfied,
recent years. Their drills will be ed- "I would rather you would come
ucatlonal, entertaining, amusing and around after this year's carnival
interesting In the extreme. People
well may come many hundreds of
miles to see the soldiers."
Mr. Pickens is also somewhat con-
wins."
The carnival is but Incidental to the cerned about a higway for the king in
will have a
heretofore seen in Omaha.
"Regarding the future I cannot great work of Ak-Sar-Ben, and if the the future, but said he
say much, except that Ak-Sar-Ben highway is taken from the king it will highway as In the past.
will keep on going. Just what sort not make so much material difference, "If some people do not like
and ask me about the future tit
Ak-Sar-Ben, as then I will know
more about it." said H. J. Penfold,
another of the governors. "No
business man plans much for the
future until he has struck a bal
ance sheet showing the result of
the past. . Our balanfp shefl't w tfl
of a program we will have In future according to Emil Brandols. Mr. carnival, those some do not have to go not be struck until after the carni
ycars it is too early at this time to Brandeis, however, agrees with -the to it," 6aid Mr. Pickens. "But that val. After that I could give you
si Next ymr-wa Jb ope to have the other governors that the highway and the carnival meets with the approval yards of 'dope,' I believe you call
men may go,
Ak-Sar-Ben
go on forever.
Tills I a the
bofiled-down es
sence of the views
of the governors
of Ak-Sar-Ben regarding It:; t'ulure and
the future of its king and his lord
high chamberluin, Samson.
They all agree that Ak-Sar-Ben
has proved a big thing for..Omaha--hu
undisputed fact that it has adver
tised the state as no other one thing
has, and that its future ill be nmdi
brighter than its past. And A!:-S:.r-Ben's
past has not been dreary ami
forlorn by any means. Coucrete prog-
.arrivy maneuvers, two years hence we the carnival have played an important of the great mass
people
u,'t may be able to Import the Cheyenne part in Ak-Sar-Ben in bringing in re
will frontier day celebration bodily, and by ceipts and helping to defray the ex-
proven by the gate receipts.
"Something new In initiation will
the time a third year rolls around
something else will turn up."
C. E. Black, while prophesying
great things for King Ak-Sar-Ben and
his worthy knights and subjects, is
more exerched over the los3 of the
King's Highway, than anything else,
though he rightly says the king
brought thU on himself, as through
his own energy prosperity lias come to
Omaha and his highway lias been
taken .for business enterprises.
"After this year we have got to get
along with le: -n space, and that Is all
there is about it," said Mr. Black.
"Wu can ii?vc! have the use of Doug-
penscs of the parades, but the carnival be found for next year and the same
Is not everything by a long shot and old king with entirely new amuse-
nostlcatiuns of the future, of the car- :ls nn, Eighteenth streets and the va-
i
nival.- and ent'TUinin .-nis io lie siven
in the years to come, (;rnot well b .
made, but the governor.! declare that
the king is not going to ah Urate and
that he will continue to rule for many
years to coi.io.
"Ak-S.ir-Ben viil be cotitinui .1 en!i'.
somethi-ig b.:Uer oa's b.- ( 'i: u .-v'.r. ',"
said Everett Buckingham, an 1 as he
fails to see what liMter could be ha 1,
Ak-Sar-Ben will c-or.t iniie to tvi:.ii for
nn Indefinite p'liod.
"Ak-Far-ben beats every i hina !s.
any oilier city ever hid by a thousand
mileB," said Mr. Buckingham. "The
Veiled Prophets of St. Louis do
not come up to it, and in New Orleans,
where the far-famed Mardi (!ras is
held every winter, they still use the
old-fashioned floats lighted by torches
carriel "by negroes walking along be
side them. It Is proper that the larg
est city In the state should have a fall
cant property adjacent again, fpr there
is net much of this vacant property
I-'it, ami the streets cannot be fenced
in on account of the increasing and
spreading out of business. My idea
is to get hold cf some sort of show
of t he c.'iar.e. t;- of 'Papriki Schnitzel,'
for kvtaiuv th.:! fan be put on in u
small sp u-e, in n bulldinr, fer we must
have a show or a se'nblance of a caf
nivul to i;et the dimes and nickels to
pay for the evpens;e parades. But
1 am not v.o;rying over the future of
Ak-Sar-Ben. Its past has been bright,
Its pr sent is brighter and its future
will be the brightest. The king may
lose tils highway, but that is ail. He
( in never lose the city and the city
can never lose the king. We nee I
him, and that is certain."
Charles K. Courtney said he did not
know what could be said of Ak-Sar-Ben's
future at this time, what im-
the loss of the highway will not
mean that the king will have to abdi
cate. "The knights of Ak-Sar-Ben are not
in the carnival business they are con
cerned in boosting Omaha, and the
carnival is only Incidental," said Mr.
Brandeis. "Great things have been
done by the knights under the leader
ship of Samson, and many people have
heard, of Omaha through the Ak-Sar-Ben
who otherwise would hardly have
known that Omaha was on the map.
But Ak-Sar-Ben Is not only a good
thing for Omaha, but it is a good thing
for the entire state, and lias adver
tised the entire state.
"Great and glorious have been t he
reigns of the lust fourteen kings of
Ak-Sar-Iien, more glorious and still
greater will be the reigns of t he next
fourteen kings, and I thoroughly be
lieve there wi'I be many mere than
fourteen. You ask about the future;
well, look at the past. Each succes
sive year has been better than the pre
ceding year, therefore it stands to
reason that future ytars will be bettei
than the present."
Mere diamonds are to be placed In
the diadem to be worn by future kings
of Ak-Kar-Ben, and as the years go by
I is lord high chamberlain, Samson,
will become a still higher functionary,
according to Charles W. Beaton, an
other one of the governors.
"Take away the king's highway,
take away his carnival If you will, but
ments will continue."
Gould Dietz can talk of nothing
else but the soldiers next year. "No
one has any idea what a big thing
this 1b or will be," said he. "Ten
to twelve thousand soldiers, taking
a couple of hours to pass a given
point, will make a parade that can
not be scoffed at. And then think
of the maneuvers, the drills, that
will be given right here in the city
as well as at the forts. And King
Ak-Sar-Ben got the soldiers. Mr.
Pickens, early last summer took the
matter up with Secretary of War
Dickenson and the soldiers will
1. 1 - .'
LI
ilEhL, .-ou have your ;;all to
a.k me to go back into t he
ceils of my memory and
ii i.p the tiiais and trou
bles t went through us
chairman of the ball com
mittee tor King Ak-ar-lic.i,"
said Gould DleU,
who for many years has been one of the most
ucttvo work i s for Kin Ak-Sar-Ben. and who
two year ago was chosen king in lienor of his
efforts in behalf of Omaha und the organiza
tion of Knights of Ak-S.tr-l'.en. "Isn't it
enough that for years I had to do a lare
bun. U of the work la connection with these
coronation baiis without ln:ii, io jar up ;.'
memory and tell rbout the ;.nniul over.ts
which have made Omaha famous all o'er th.
western country'"'
It has In i p. a e;;-t- "'' ar. o;ig tV. kn.'Xhts
that when a u.en oir i. c'.i .! I kiar. hi., term
Brief Confessions of a Coronation Ball Manager
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uf son ice on the ho: rd is over, but su h Is
not tt'.e case with (ioi'.ld Dietz. He is loo good
a eaten to let escape. It is also known to the
knights thp.t for the last six months C. II.
Pickens, chairman of the board of governors,
has carried the resignation o: Mr. Diet?,
around in his inside pocket, but that is as far
as the missive ever cot, for Mr. Dietz is not
going to be permitted to escape. While he will
not have charge of the ball this year, he will
b? the guiding hand in the big parades which
Samr.cn is preparing for the thousands of
people who wi'I visit Omaha (tiring the fall
festivities. Tiiis insures to the public that t'le
parades will be the bis sucefs t'ley al'Aa s
have been, and that eve-ytl'lrs: conn d v.i ':
th' will be ru!i o"f wl'h ';"
"I'll state in the be:t::ning 'I'-it t'" ')
of chairman of the ball committee entails a
vast amount of work, but you know work
never troubles me. If work will let me alone
I'll let work all alone and not trouble it.
Some of the experiences of the chairman of
the bull committee are really funny, and I
had a lot of fun as we went along."
"Tell us some of your experiences," inter
rupted the interviewer.
"Well, 1 think about the funniest experi
ence I had was with one of the out-of-town
mai is. (Mr. Dietz was not married then). I
rec ived a telephone call a few years ago, a
coup of nays before one of the big balls, and
a femiaiiii oice wanted to know if I was the
Mr. Diitz who was managing the ball. She said
t'-'ut she v.an'td to see me very badly, and
s.iil that if 1 was going to be at the office
for a while she would come down. 1 lold her
to come along.
"She caiiio and was as pritty as a peach.
She tald that she was in a quandary and
wanted some expert advice. Then bhe began
to describe the gown she had made to wear
at the ball. I looked wise, although I did not
know- a thing about what he was trying to
tell me. V hen sho had finished site said:
" 'Now, Mr. Dietz, I did not know whether
that dress would do to wear to the ball so I
thought I had better come and see you about
It. If you say it will do 1 will have it sent
here and if it will cot do I want to get an
other.' "I'm sure it will do." replied Mr. Diet::,
just like that, as though he knew all ab i.i'
women's clot i: a.
During one fall when Mr. Dietz was chuir
man ot the bail committee lie was the ouly
unmarried man ou the board of governors,
bo a resolution was passed by the board that
it should be. the duty of Mr. Dieu to look after
all the visiting maids of honor. Mr. Dietz
heard the motion passed, but thought It was
Just a Joke motion and paid uo further atten
tion to it.
The tiitht of the ball arrived and the
maids had all come to Omaha and were
quartered around at the various hotels. It was
about time for the big ball to start when it
dawned upon Mr. Dietz that no provision had
been made to escort the maids to the ball.
Then the old mot'on duwned upon hint.
Gould Dietz is not a man to be stumped by
any emergency of that kind, so he at once
got busy. He realized that he could not call
upon ;irty other n. irber of the board for h 'p,
(Continued en I'xec Nine, i
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